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Though it wouldn’t come with rising waters or rip through downtown with tornado-force winds, an H1N1 pandemic would present many of the same challenges to Iowa businesses as a natural disaster.

According to a recent report prepared by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a “plausible scenario” is that between 30 and 50 percent of the U.S. population could get the H1N1 flu this fall and winter. If that happens, absenteeism rates could soar as employees stay home because they’re ill or to care for family members. Though no one knows how widespread H1N1 illnesses will be, the severity of the expected flu outbreak can be mitigated with some planning and common-sense precautions, say experts.

Next to preventive measures to help workers avoid becoming ill, having a business continuity plan in the event that large numbers of employees are absent is one of the most important steps that businesses can take to prepare, said Jami Haberl, director of Safeguard Iowa Partnership.

“Part of it is just making sure businesses have looked at their continuity plans, that they can continue to operate if they do have high percentages of people out ill or having to care for family members,” she said. One of the planning tools she recommends to small businesses is a recently released guide published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Small Business Administration, available at www.sba.gov/flu.

Safeguard Iowa Partnership is a nonprofit organization formed last year to coordinate disaster response efforts between businesses and government. In response to the H1N1 threat, it has partnered with the Iowa Department of Public Health and the Upper Midwest Center for Public Health Preparedness to produce a free webcast for businesses on Oct. 21 and Oct. 27. (see information box)

The H1N1 flu is of particular concern to school districts and higher education facilities because it tends to affect children and young adults more than seasonal flu strains, which normally hit the elderly the hardest.

Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) is using an action plan it first developed three years ago when an avian flu pandemic was looming, said Laurie Wolf, DMACC’s executive dean of student services.

“Since then we have refined the action plan, working with Polk County Health (Department), Iowa Department of Public Health and first responders,” Wolf said. “That has helped us become better in tune with services through the county and state, so that we will not have to make decisions in isolation.”

In addition to encouraging faculty members to instruct students to stay home if they’re sick, “we’re also educating our students about proper ways to cover your cough, not touching others,” she said. “It’s kind of like going back to kindergarten.”

Working with the Polk County Health Department, DMACC officials would determine whether it would be in the public’s best interest to close the campuses if there were a widespread flu outbreak, Wolf said.

Greater Des Moines’ hospitals, whose employees make up a significant portion of the local work force, are also on the front lines of exposure to the virus.

“First and foremost, whether it’s H1N1 or seasonal flu, (the important thing is) prevention,” said Dr. Mark Purtle, Iowa Health – Des Moines’ vice president of medical affairs. “We started in July (and) the first part of August saying we would make a huge effort to get our staff immunized. That’s one of the key strategies in dealing with this.”

Iowa Health last year attained a 74 percent immunization rate for seasonal flu among its staff, compared with a national average of less than 50 percent among hospitals, Purtle said. He said it appears the initial round of doses of H1N1 flu vaccine the state is expected to get should be “more than adequate” to cover his organization’s work force of approximately 5,500.

On the outpatient side, 98 percent of the staff at Iowa Physicians and Clinics facilities have already received the seasonal vaccine, said the clinics’ executive director, Jean Shelton. And more people than usual are lining up for seasonal flu shots.

“We are expecting an increase in staffing demand to support not only the influx on new seasonal flu vaccine but also the added staff time associated with the H1N1 vaccine,” Shelton said. “We will address this via increased office hours, overtime and flex staffing.”

In the event H1N1 develops into a pandemic, Iowa Health, Mercy and Broadlawns medical centers have a tiered response plan to deal with the potential surge of patients, Purtle said.

Among large private employers, a spokeswoman for Principal Financial Group Inc. said the company is “well-prepared for a wide variety of scenarios that could affect our business, including the possibility of an H1N1 outbreak.”

“We continue to educate employees on preventive measures, and how to help contain further spread if an employee is impacted,” she said. “We encourage any employee experiencing flu-like symptoms to stay home in order to minimize the risk of spreading illness.”

McGladrey & Pullen LLP is also telling employees to stay home if they’re sick, said Julie Johnson, a human resources generalist at the accounting firm.

“Our local office is going to be providing flu shots for everyone as well,” she said. Other measures include extra disinfecting at the offices and distributing hand sanitizer.

Johnson said McGladrey’s offices around the country potentially could share work if some offices are particularly hard-hit with the flu. Additionally, “It’s nice that our jobs are pretty flexible in that we can work from home,” she said. DMACC’s Wolf said organizations should focus their attention foremost on preventive measures.

“This is a moment to teach people how to practice general good health practices … to teach people how not to pass along germs.”